


Notes of Love

by SilverMoonSky



Series: Ladrien June 2020 [4]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Awkwardness, Blushing, Comforting, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Ladrien June, Ladrien June 2020, Mentioned Emilie Agreste, Oh what a Surprise, Some angst but not really, Sweet, and ends up staying in his bedroom instead, and in which Adrien also plays the piano for her, in which Ladybug decides to check up on Adrien
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:02:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24583501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMoonSky/pseuds/SilverMoonSky
Summary: After a late night akuma attack, Ladybug stops by at Adrien’s bedroom feeling a bit frustrated, but he helps her get through it.Written for Day 4: Emilie for Ladrien June.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Ladrien June 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1770316
Comments: 9
Kudos: 48





	Notes of Love

After a particularly rough akuma attack late at night, Adrien jumped back into his bedroom and detransformed, immediately flopping onto his bed. He buried his face in his pillow and groaned. It was nearly one in the morning. His homework wasn’t done, he hadn’t practiced piano, and he hadn’t showered, but he didn’t care. It had been a long,  _ long  _ day. The only thought currently running through his mind was  _ sleep _ .

“Adrien,” Plagg whined, “I’m hungry.”

“There’s camembert in the mini-fridge,” he muttered, his face still buried in his pillow.

“Don’t you have work to do or something?” his kwami asked as he flew towards the fridge.

“I’ll do it later.”

“Aren’t you going to change into something more comfortable?”

“No.”

“What about your window? Aren’t you going to close it?”

“What’s with all the sudden questions?” Adrien looked up at him suspiciously.

“Oh, nothing,” Plagg said nonchalantly, gulping down a hunk of cheese, “I didn’t want to tell you myself, but just to let you know, Ladybug’s currently outside your window.”

That was all it took for him to instantly become wide awake.

“What? Where?” he demanded, shooting up to his feet.

“Gotcha.” Plagg grinned.

Adrien scowled at him. “Not funny.”

“You should’ve seen your face!”

“You’re so annoying,” he grumbled under his breath. Adrien looked over at the window and sighed. Imagine if Ladybug  _ had _ been there. That honestly would’ve made his day—or night, actually. Just knowing that she was near, that maybe fate of the sort brought her closer. He could revel in fantasies of  _ why _ she was there; maybe she found Adrien Agreste interesting, or perhaps she would enjoy spending time with him. Whatever it may be. Seeing her always brightened him up. If Ladybug had been around here, she probably had a better reason than the excuses he used whenever he went out as Chat Noir. After all, Ladybug wasn’t one to be in suit unless there was patrol or an akuma. If she  _ did _ happen to be standing by his window, there was no way that it would be just for—

A flash of red suddenly caught his eye. He looked up, surprised to see Ladybug crouching at his window. She waved at him.

Well then. Never mind.

“Ladybug!” Adrien gasped. He rushed towards the window and threw it open.

She gave him a small smile. “Hey.”

“Wh-what are you, um, doing here?” he stammered. Was something wrong? Did something happen? He quickly began to recall all the things he’d said and done as Chat—did he accidentally let his identity slip? Did he mention his civilian self at all? Did he—

“I was heading home after the akuma attack and I saw the light on in your room,” Ladybug said. “Is everything alright?”

“Oh um, yeah, I’m fine,” Adrien said, feeling himself blush at the fact that  _ Ladybug _ cared enough about his well-being to come check up on him. “It’s just that the akuma attack was near here, so it woke me up. I was just going back to sleep though.”

“Okay. That’s good to hear,” she said. She smiled awkwardly at him.

Realizing she was still standing on his windowsill, he asked, “do you want to come in?”

“Are you sure? I mean, I’m sure you’d rather catch up on sleep.”

“No, that’s okay. I don’t mind.” There was also the fact that he probably  _ wouldn’t  _ be able to go to sleep after knowing she’d been thinking of him, but she didn’t know that.

“Oh. Well, in that case, you won’t mind if I stay for a while?” Ladybug bit her lip. “I just really don’t feel like going home right now.”

Wait. Why? Was something happening with her parents? Was she trying to escape from something, just like he used his Miraculous for some sense of freedom? And why hadn’t she told Chat?

“It’s nothing serious!” she added when Adrien frowned. “I’ve just had a lot of things on my mind lately. I’ve been finding it a lot harder to sleep, so I try to tire myself out by staying out longer as Ladybug.”

“Oh,” he said, his mouth still pressed in a thin line. “Well, you can stay however long you like.”

She jumped off the windowsill and into his room. “Thank you, Adrien.”

Shivers went down his spine as his name rolled off her tongue. It felt so  _ right _ . If only Ladybug came over to his room every night. . . . but then again, if the reason she came over was because she was unsettled by something, then perhaps it wasn’t exactly worth it.

“Do you need anything? Something to eat, or something to drink?”

“I’m good,” Ladybug said. She looked down, fiddling with her fingers.

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck with a hand. Gosh, this was so awkward. He was sure Plagg was currently somewhere in the room snickering at them. The longer they stayed silent, the more he could feel his face burn.

What should he say? A cat pun? No, that was too Chat Noir. A cheesy pick-up line? No, that was also too Chat Noir. He couldn’t just say  _ silent _ ! He had to say  _ something _ —after all, he was the one that invited her. But ugh, why was it that words always failed him when he was his civilian self?

“Do you want to, um, sit down?” Ladybug asked.

“Oh! Yeah, sure,” he said, wanting to smack himself on the head for not thinking of that. He walked over to the couch and sat down, patting the spot beside him.

She settled down beside him, leaving a decent amount of space between the two. It was definitely a change from whenever he was out on patrol with her as Chat; being superheroes that were constantly thrown around didn’t exactly give them enough personal space. It was why their dynamic at the moment felt really weird. Ladybug and Chat were  _ never  _ like this. But Ladybug and Adrien? The air around them practically spelled out  _ awkward _ .

“So,” Ladybug said at the exact same time Adrien said, “about earlier—”

The two of them instantly blushed. “You first,” she said.

“Okay. Um, about what you said earlier—do you want to talk about it? What’s bothering you, I mean,” Adrien added hastily. “Or you don’t have to if you don’t want to, I was just suggesting that maybe well, if you talked about it, it might, um, help. . . .”

Ladybug looked up, hesitating. “I don’t know if I should. You know, secret identities and all.”

“Oh. Yeah, right.”

“It’s nothing really,” she said with a shrug. “It’s like I said earlier, there’s a lot on my mind at the moment. The akuma attack didn’t let me finish my work for school tomorrow, I have a test in a couple of days that I  _ really _ need to study for, there’s being Ladybug on top of that, and Guardian duties that I—” she suddenly broke off. “Sorry. I wasn’t supposed to tell you that part.”

Adrien glanced at her. Ladybug’s gaze was downcast as she worried her bottom lip. His heart clenched. Why hadn’t he noticed how she was feeling earlier today when he was Chat?

_ Because you were too caught up in yourself. Because you were too eager to get home and sleep. _

“And I’m just trying to get away from all of it, you know? Sometimes it all feels overwhelming. I thought today, well, I could get some work done, but then Hawk Moth sends out an akuma that took nearly four hours to defeat, and now when I get home all I’ll want to do is sleep. But I can’t,” Ladybug said with a bitter laugh. “I don’t have time for that.”

“I get that,” Adrien said quietly, surprising them both. “I know what it’s like to not have enough time to yourself. Not that I’m a superhero like you or anything”—if only she knew—“but I get it. That feeling sucks.”

She looked over at him. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he agreed.

Not for the first time that night, silence befell them once more. But this time, instead of panicking and trying to think of what to say, Adrien instead had another idea. He got to his feet.

“How do you feel about the piano?” Adrien asked, holding out a hand to her.

Ladybug took his hand and propelled herself up to her feet. “What?”

“The piano,” he said, “what do you think about it?”

“Oh. It’s a nice instrument, I guess. I don’t really listen to it too much; it’s not my favorite.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”

“No, no, don’t be sorry,” he said. Adrien quickly became aware that he was still holding her hand. He pulled away, pink dusting his cheeks, and started walking towards his piano. “It’s never been my favorite instrument either. I was forced to play as a kid, and I’m still forced to now. But there are some things about it I enjoy.” He sat down at the piano and lightly ran his fingers over its keys.

“Like what?” Ladybug asked. She’d followed his and was now standing at the piano’s side.

He motioned for her to take a seat. “Certain pieces. Normally when I practice, I play the pieces that Father wants me to perfect. But on days when I don’t feel like practicing or when I’m feeling down, I’ll instead play some of my favorite pieces.” Adrien positioned both of his hands on the keys. “Like this one.”

Adrien had a complicated relationship with the piano. He only started playing because his mother used to, and now, he only continued because his father said it reminded him of her. It was never something he enjoyed. And yet, as the tranquil music filled his ears as his fingers glided across the keys, it felt as though it was his most favorite sound in the entire world. This was a piece he played whenever things went wrong and he just needed to feel happier. He didn’t care if he accidentally played a flat instead of a sharp or missed a note or two. The composition was one Gabriel had stopped playing ever since Emilie left, but Adrien hadn’t. It was one of the only things that helped him keep her memory alive; he wasn’t about to let it go to waste.

“This was my mother’s favorite,” he whispered. “She used to play it for me all the time. It soothes me every time I hear it.”

“It’s beautiful,” Ladybug breathed. He thought he felt her shift closer to his side as he continued to play. Neither talked, and the music continued to fill the air, sifting through it calmly, elegantly.

This piece no longer filled Adrien’s heart with a pang because of the fact that it reminded him of Emilie, he realized with surprise. Some days, right after his mother had disappeared, playing the composition would result in him breaking down and crying. And yet, he wasn’t now; in fact, the only thing running through his mind right now was to share the melody with Ladybug, to let her hear the memories of his childhood, to let her experience the love he’d felt from his mother, to let her get to know her partner the slightest bit more. . . .

As it finally drew to a close, Adrien was dimly aware that he and Ladybug were shoulder to shoulder and their thighs were brushing against one another, but he could honestly care less. What mattered that night was what he shared with her.

“Thank you, Adrien,” she whispered. “That really helped.”

For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, he blushed. “O-of course.”  _ Anything for you, my lady. _

“Are you going to play more?”

“If you want me to, I can.”

“If you want to, sure,” Ladybug said. She moved so that her head rested on his shoulder.

His breath hitched in his throat. “Okay,” he whispered, and with that, another piece came to mind, and his fingers slowly began moving of his own accord, only one thought going through Adrien’s head at the moment.

_ Mother, you would’ve loved her. _


End file.
